Diana and Shayera entered the stone doors leading into the palace's great hall. As they walked towards the throne, several Amazons greeted them with smiles. A blonde came out of the crowd with a big grin on her face.

"Alindra!" Shayera squealed drawing the general into a large hug.

"Shayera, it is so good to see you!" Alindra replied returning the affection. She stepped back and nodded in Diana's direction. "Princess Diana, we are very happy to know you will be leading us."

"So am I to assume that you will be part of the faction going?"

"Absolutely. I have been seeing to the weaponry readiness with Artemis."

"Artemis?" Shayera questioned. "Isn't she a goddess?"

"No," Alindra chuckled, "not that Artemis. Our Artemis is another one of Queen Hippolyta's generals. "

Diana smiled, "Where is she?"

"Probably in the library with Clio."

"Who is Clio?" the redhead asked.

"Her wife. Her very pregnant wife. And Themiscyra's resident librarian."

Diana's eyes widened. "Clio is pregnant?"

Alindra nodded her head, her grin massive. "She is. Kasnian technology at work. She is about to burst. That is why Artemis is not going with us."

Diana smiled again. "Good for them. I know how much having a child means to Clio."

"And Artemis," Alindra continued, "you should see how she dotes."

Diana chuckled, "Artemis doting?"

"Why wouldn't she?" Shayera asked.

"Before she met Clio, Artemis, well, her personality…"

"Her personality what?" came a booming voice.

Alindra and the group turned to see a pair of women approaching. Clio, the obviously pregnant Amazon was being helped along by an Amazon Shayera assumed was Artemis. They looked like quite the odd couple. Artemis was at least six feet tall, with long, straight, red hair. Her build was athletic, her long strong legs a testament to her warrior training. She had a sharp nose, with stunning green eyes. Clio, was a full head shorter. Her hair was a mahogany color, a mixture of black and brown, long, but curly and thick. She was curvy, but slender in her build, in as much as Shayera could tell. After all, Clio looked like she was carrying about 30 extra pounds on her stomach. She was wearing a blue tunic, a stark contrast to the white and gold that the Amazons traditionally wore.

Clio chided, "Your personality needed working on, and that's all."

Artemis looked down at her companion, "Hmmph. I beg to differ."

Diana laughed, "You will never meet a truer example of opposites attracting. Artemis is the stoic, hot-headed, blunt tactician, and Clio, is the quiet, reserved, unassuming genius."

Artemis picked her head up and looked at Diana. "Princess, you just said we were opposites?"

"I did."

"If Clio is a genius am I to understand that you believe me to be stupid?" Artemis didn't crack a smile.

Diana stammered, "I...I…uh…"

Artemis smiled, "A joke Princess."

Diana exhaled and laughed, "You tell jokes? Who are you?"

Artemis rubbed Clio's protruding stomach. "Clio says we cannot raise our daughter to be serious all the time. Speaking of which, will you and Shayera be having children of your own soon?"

Diana blushed, and Shayera quickly shifted the subject. "I have been practicing with the bow Alindra."

"Very good," the blonde laughed, "Want to see something I have been working on?"

"I do. Diana, do you mind?"

"No, not at all. Have fun."

Alindra grabbed Shayera's hand and started to walk away.

They got a few steps away and Diana blurted, "Alindra! How is Athena?"

Shayera turned, and smugly smiled. Alindra grinned widely. "She is good. She decided to be a part of the pre-war, ummmm, ritual."

Shayera let go of Alindra's hand and walked back to Diana. She whispered, "Don't think that I didn't catch your intention behind that question."

Diana lowered her head and kissed her redhead. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"You are a lousy liar Diana. Love you."

Shayera returned to Alindra's side and as they walked away, asked, "What ritual?"

Alindra blushed. "Before the Amazons go to war, it is customary…" The rest of the sentence was unheard by the group, but Shayera paused and looked back at Diana, throwing the Amazon a wink.

Clio smiled, and then suddenly frowned. "Our daughter is kicking again."

Artemis wrapped her arm around the smaller woman's shoulders. "Let's get you seated."

"Quit fussing. Stay here and tell Diana about the new armor that was commissioned. I will be fine finding a seat on my own."

"But if you need me…"

"Then you will hear me screaming. Princess Diana, will you excuse me?"

"Of course."

Clio turned to walk away, and then looked back expectantly at Artemis. The tall Amazon leaned over and kissed her wife's stomach, and then moved up to the other woman's lips. Clio patted Artemis' cheek and waddled away from the other two women.

"Being pregnant suits Clio." Diana remarked.

"It has been the biggest blessing. She…she's become much more beautiful to my eyes. I didn't think that was possible."

"You are very lucky."

"I am, but it wouldn't have been feasible without Kasnia's help."

"I know."

"Several of the Amazon's are now expecting. Our tribe will grow because of Queen Audrey's beneficence. I wish I was able to go with you, but…"

"Your place is with Clio. I understand that."

Artemis sighed, "I wouldn't have thought it was possible to keep me out of a war…"

"Other things are more important now."

Artemis nodded. "They are. But I am going to change the subject. New armor was commissioned from Hephaestus' workshop."

"The God of forgery made armor for us? It is not like the gods to take orders."

Artemis' eyes twinkled with mirth. "Athena was very insistent, and her uncle complied. His group of cyclops managed to produce high quality armament. We know what we are up against to a degree. The NKFR is using bullets and rockets, so it was necessary to adapt to that type of warfare. Not all of us can dodge bullets like you. Our new armor will help us to be able to take those shots."

"Bullets maybe, but rockets? And there is the other matter of the Amazons not being able to fly."

"Ahhh, yes, but thanks to Athena, we have an answer for that as well."

"Is Athena going with us?"

"No, but it has been obvious that she wants us to be successful. She gifted Alindra with a special bow and arrows. The striking distance of the weapon is unrivaled. So while we cannot fly, we can ground anything that does with deadly accuracy from far off."

"Just Alindra though?"

"No, Hephaestus made several hundred, again, at Athena's insistence. Alindra has been working with a solid core of our archers. Come on, we'll go and meet them. I am sure that is where Alindra and Shayera are."

Diana allowed herself to be led back outside, behind the palace to a cliff overlooking the ocean. Alindra was seen giving orders to a small group of Amazon archers.

"Jocasta, Chara, Olexa, Melanippe, Galatea, a demonstration for our Princess please."

The 5 Amazon archers dipped their arrows into a vat of fire and raised their bows to the sky.

Diana squinted, but saw no targets. "What are they aiming at?"

Artemis smiled, "If they hit the targets then you'll know."

In quick succession each released their arrows, and a few seconds later, 5 small explosions were seen in the ocean.

"That's about 500 yards!" Diana uttered, amazed.

Alindra beamed with pride. "750, Princess."

"How can they see that far though?"

"Olexa! Come show Diana and Shayera your eyes."

The dark skinned Amazon lowered her bow and walked towards her summoner. She looked straight ahead as Diana leaned in to examine her. Her eyes were a rich dark brown, with a glossy sheen.

"I don't see anything." Diana muttered.

"Look again Diana. She wears something similar to what you call …"

"Contact lenses." Artemis finished.

Alindra nodded, "It is another piece of Kasnian technology. There is a small chip that is behind her ear. The lenses are special in that they allow the wearer to see far greater distances than the average human can. The chip allows for the processing of the image to the eye very quickly. It also serves to give the wearer night vision as well."

"Amazing."

"It is. This technology along with the bows gifted by Athena is going to give us an edge on our flying enemies. While we have not trained a vast amount of our warriors, there are sufficient numbers to split amongst parties if needed. So while rockets at a distance will be deadly, the moment they fly into range to use them…"

Shayera's eyes lit up, "We'll be able to knock them right out of the sky!"

"Exactly!" Alindra looked at Artemis who nodded in agreement.

"One more test?" Diana asked.

"Please do." Alindra nodded.

"Which one of you is the best archer?"

Chara moved forward. "I am. Not by much though. We are pretty equally matched. But I am willing to demonstrate our skill again Princess."

"Very well." Diana walked over and picked up a shield. "I am going to fly out 750 yards and point to a small place on this shield. See if you can hit it exactly where I point to."

Chara grinned. "Try and make it difficult."

Diana flew out 50 yards past the earlier detonation point and held the shield up. She pointed to a small area and then threw the object high into the air. Within moments an arrow came zooming by, striking the shield in the exact point that Diana had indicated. Diana caught the shield before it landed into the ocean. She flew back to the cliff with the object in hand.

"That is damn impressive. Wow!" Diana smiled.

Chara bowed slightly, "Thank you."

Shayera leaned over to Alindra, "Whatever it is you are doing with Athena, you better make sure you continue to keep her happy."

Alindra blushed, "Yes, well…I…"

Shayera swatted the blonde general. "We will discuss this later, hmmm?"

A/N: So the Amazons have been getting a little bit of help...Clio and Artemis are actually characters from the comic books. (I got schooled by ltlconf) If there is any interest, consideration has been made in giving them their own story. Let me know if you are interested. Of course it will have to wait until this one has been concluded (which may be a while yet). Thanks to those who leave reviews. Those who sign in got a little shout out in this chapter. Thanks guys. For anonymous: Glad you liked the last installment. You referred to Athena, and yes, her and Alindra are still together, as was sort of implied here. You will get more of them later. *wink* More to come...please let me know if you liked this one. I really do appreciate you guys. I don't think this would be as much fun to do without you.